Block welding
Any thoughts on this. I've been tossing around the notion of having some welding done on a block I have but I'm not sure if this is a safe thing to do to a Rover V8. Any precautions or procedures I should know about?
Greg |
roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: Block welding
Gregg, My personal experiences are the Buick and Rover aluminum materials are readily TIG. weldable once they are properly cleaned. Next question is where on the block? Inside a cracked cylinder bore might be tricky. Know that in leiu of post weld quenching or re-heat treating that the weld itself and a variable heat affected zone will be quite soft,(weaker). #5356 rod is amonst the best hardness in as -welded state. I will need to weld block, deck areas to install #907 heads on a Rover. As a result this will permit "lengthly" strokes.I will post as time permits. Best of luck. Art.
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roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: Block welding
Greg, Does P -76 have raised cam? Appears to have less meat around lifter bores, like 215's. You may want to read "lifters", page 2. Whats the desired build? Roller cam ? Of course with overhead cam heads, that area receives less stress. One could even install shrink-fit, aluminum insert where cam was for enhanced strengthening of block,(round girdle). How you going beef the bottom end? Trick on using the 340/350 cranks is 427 Ford main bearings. 2.75" dia. mains will alignbore to fit block ,leaving crank stronger than lesser dia's. One could argue of weakening the block by boring-out main bores but I think in reality, the main journals will be closer to load pick-up points,(studs)? Because the crank is stronger in this configuration, the main areas of block will receive less stress. If your not going to cross-bolt mains,(even more welding), you may want to use a billet girdle, ie. Huffaker ,etc. For sure, the build level should determine mod's. required. Good luck on this rare block. Art.
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